Star Wars' Most Dangerous Idea Yet: Giving Jar Jar Binks a Lightsaber

The lightsaber used to be a special weapon that only those skilled in the Force could properly wield, but as the anthology Star Wars: Age of Republic Special #1 shows, they’re pretty much giving them to anyone with opposable thumbs these days. The short story titled “501 Plus One” is set in the Clone Wars era during the Battle of Mimban where Commander Rex is tasked with both protecting Senator Jar Jar Binks and bringing down the enemy shield generator, but when tragedy strikes it leads to a short-lived badass moment for Binks.

During the firefight, Jedi Master Laan Tik is killed, forcing Rex to retreat his forces without taking down the shield generator. After he sees to it that his troops and Binks are safe, Rex sneaks out to finish the mission by himself, not wanting to further risk the lives of his men, but he takes a laser bolt to the shoulder and falls to the ground just short of his goal. As the battle droids approach to finish off Rex, a lightsaber suddenly chops them down to size. Rex is confused, thinking it might be Laan Tik somehow returned from the dead, but his savior is revealed to be none other than Jar Jar Binks weilding the blue lightsaber of the fallen Jedi.

Naturally, Binks doesn’t even get a second to savor his moment of glory as he accidentally loses his grip on the hilt and drops the saber, nearly dismembering himself before Rex catches it midair. The two then go on to the shield generator to finish the mission, with Binks now using a (somewhat) less deadly blaster instead of the Jedi weapon.

Exit Theatre Mode

The above video is every flip in Star Wars. Just do yourself a favor and watch it already.

This isn’t the first time Marvel’s Star Wars comics have put a laser sword in the hands of non-Jedi characters, seemingly just for the momentary cool factor. Star Wars #12 saw Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca backed into a corner, only for R2-D2 to save the day by launching out four lightsabers (just like in Return of the Jedi) for them to use to carve their way out of trouble.

Star Wars #12. (Image Credit: Marvel Comics)

What do you think of Jar Jar Binks using a lightsaber to save the day, but then almost killing himself immediately after? Let us know in the comments.

Star Wars: 40 Pieces of Obscure Trivia

10+ IMAGES

Fullscreen Image

Artboard 3 Copy

Artboard 3

ESC

01 OF 40

The Millennium Falcon wasn’t always disc-shaped. In fact, originally it was a long, cylindrical ship. The model crew was told it too closely resembled a ship called the Eagle from the 1975 British sci-fi TV show Space: 1999, though, and so it had to be redesigned. The original Falcon model was reworked and still appears in the original Star Wars, however — as the Tantive IV, the Rebel Blockade Runner where C-3PO, R2-D2, Princess Leia and Darth Vader are seen for the first time.

01 OF 40

The Millennium Falcon wasn’t always disc-shaped. In fact, originally it was a long, cylindrical ship. The model crew was told it too closely resembled a ship called the Eagle from the 1975 British sci-fi TV show Space: 1999, though, and so it had to be redesigned. The original Falcon model was reworked and still appears in the original Star Wars, however — as the Tantive IV, the Rebel Blockade Runner where C-3PO, R2-D2, Princess Leia and Darth Vader are seen for the first time.

Star Wars: 40 Pieces of Obscure Trivia

Lucasfilm

Download Image

Captions

ESC

Joshua is Senior Editor of IGN Comics. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.